Who says "History never repeats"

[reddo]

OK.. and the answer to that question isnt "Split ENZ"...

Just on a bit of a whim today i rang a bloke i sold one of my half baked creations to a few years ago..
So....hows it goin old mate...whats been doin with the van i sold ya...??
A:.... Oh.. that... Nothing.. i towed it home and it sat in my drive for a while.. i lost my license and we took it around to my brothers place and its in his driveway now..
Q: Its been sitting in the open has it??
A: Yes... but it now has a tarp over it
Q: Would you be interested in selling it back to me???
A: Yeeeeesssssss..... my bro has been pestering me to get it out of his yard...

and so the conversation went on... needless to say . ....a price was agreed on ..... its coming home again..

The plan is to travel to Victoria ( why cant these things be closer to home... 664 miles .. and thats one way ) and collect it before the Easter school holidays start.....get it home and sorta " re-invent it in the shed of invention...
my future frustration is assured...

Reddo

[mrfj55]

WHICHY ONE. ?

[reddo]

Hello Brother Teardropper.

THIS ONE..

Got home yesterday lunchtime after a 2500 kilometres round trip to South Oakliegh down south east past Melbourne near Caulfieid.

Lotsa swollen plywood due to it living in the open for 2 years. It hadnt moved since the day the bloke that won it on ebay towed it home... plan was to make a roadside coffe van out of it....???????????

I will strip both sides off and re-do in ply again... probably stain it in a red cedar sort of stain.
Then decide wether to keep it as a dual purpose TD / Bike Hauler or permanently set it up as bike hauler without all the rear cupboards... or permanently set it up as TD ... and .....Much to Kath Miles's relief ... modify the tailgate to a 2 piece upper / lower tailgate so it doesn't attack peoples heads when the upper tailgate is opened up
.

Plenty of time to think about which way to go.... while i am demolishing the sides...

Reddo

[Strugglebrook]

It might come on the Tour ??

PSK.

[reddo]

It might come on the Tour ??

PSK.

It might.... but it would be under its own propulsion... i wont be towing it .
Maybe set it up behind the Supalite as a B Double heavy combination.??

GR

[jennison]

crikey people amaze me. Buy it, park it, leave it, wreck it(or try to) Well done Reddo it was a great build when you did it so good to see you save it again
jenno

[reddo]

Too right Jenno..
have seen what lack of decent storage .. and maintenance can do to vans in a very short time.. and over a long period of time.
In this case it only took a few years of sitting in the open down in Melbourne to stuff the ply cladding... i thought i done a good job on sealing everything up after priming / sealing all the wall sheets with oil based paint and using good sealants at the joins..
apparently they are no match for a good dose of neglect.??

Anyway .. thats all in the past.. lets focus on the recovery..

Spent a few hours yesterday arvo removing the j moulds and porthole etc .. then finding all the rivets that where holding the ply sheets on around the edge of the frame and drilling them out so i could remove the sheets...

Will repeat the exercise today on the left side....Then clean all the glues of the steel frame with a wire brush.... give all the steelwork a lick of etch primer to prevent it rusting... then .... because its Easter and most businesses are closed, i will leave it sit until i make up mind wether to reclad in aluminium, lamipanel/ signboard..... of some nice sheets of bondwood with red cedar... or something similar colour/grain top layer and clear lacqer .

Heading off out west on Monday with the Supalite behind the hilux ute... .. free camping a few days along the way and end up at Hill End on Wednesday for Anzac Day Thursday with the eldest son and his family....Then peg on back home next weekend ...
This restoration stuff is thirsty work... need to keep the fluids up,... and i am sure Hill End Pub will have enough beer in stock to prevent me dehydrating on Anzac Day.

Reddo

[reddo]

Howdy...
Easter has come and gone.. all businesses are full steam ahead again..
So.. rang Specialised wholesales here in Newy and enquired about Aluminium composite sheets.. ??.. Yes they do make a brushed aluminium sheet and a silver aluminium sheet in 3000 X 1500 X 3mm.... This would be good... means no joins on the side of the TD..
Price per sheet.. $198.00 ea.... ... but wait there is more... GST 10% . + freight $65 + Palleting .. $70..... hmmmm ... over $500 for 2 sheets.

NEXT...

I contacted Capral Aluminium... 1 X 3000 X 1500 X 1.2mm sheet $98.49 + GST + Frieght $52 from Sydney.
So.. i have 2 of them on the way. I figure it will be cheaper to just aluminium sheet it than using ply .. would have meant having to buy 4 x 1200 x 2400 sheets.... primer, undercoat, top coat, plus something to fill the screw heads holes etc...

Will seal the wall to roof join the same way i done it originaly when i built it... I used 50mm wide tar foil and cut it down to 25mm wide strips . it sealed perfectly under the j mould ...
Seeing the damage caused to the lower panel from the middle of the van downwards i should have used the tape there as well.... its all about learning ??.

Now... i just need to sit near the phone and wait for the call from Capral to say the sheets have made there $52 trip from Sydney. and are ready for collection.... thenm the mangling can get started...

[reddo]

Sheets have arrived.
Collected..
Used old ply sheets as template for left side.
Marked it all out on the back of the ute...

Couple of small adjustments before trialing it on the van..
Then on she went..

Spent another hour slicing out the door....
Didnt wanna push my luck after getting a fairly neat fit first go.
So packed up early and took the missus over to hospital . She was booked in for a few tests..
Gotta hang around.. she will be too wobbly to drive home..

More tomorrow..

[reddo]

Sides are on..

Door is made...
and fitted.with porthole . Swinging on its hinges with door handle and locking mech refitted..

I mentioned earlier there is stuff that i used last time i built the TD . Its just the shot for sealing the joins between wall and roof...
$7.60 at Bunnings....

No messy Butyl Mastic being squished out of a tube. No silastics/ silacons. Its 50mm wide .. so i cut it down the middle and use 25mm wide strips on the joins. Whole thing is covered by the J mould...

Was considering putting the long hours in on it and having it ready for the Opal tour... but i want to get part of the sides vynil wrapped or sparay painted and doubt i would get anyone to do that in the next week or 2.

All good.